Blibli.com CEO Kusumo Martanto said the company has since late 2016 been gravitating toward travel products through the launch of Blibli Travel, which aimed to expand into the online travel market due to promising statistics.

"Tiket.com has had a good track record; in a relatively short amount of time, it has transformed into one of Indonesia's biggest online travel agents, equally focused on customer satisfaction, as well as being considered consistent in running its business," Kusumo explained in a statement released on Thursday. 

The acquisition process began five months ago, Kusomo said, expressing optimism that the business would grow more than two-fold through the remaining year.

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Tiket.com co-founder and chief communication officer, Gaery Undarsa, revealed on Thursday that the acquisition was conducted in rupiah, but refrained from disclosing the exact amount, kompas.com reported.

Gaery co-founded the company with Wenas Agusetiawan, Dimas Surya Yaputra and Natali Ardianto in August 2011. 

Tiket.com has grown to establish five main products, namely flights, train travel, hotel accommodation, car rental, as well as events and entertainment tickets. 

Following the acquisition, which was sealed with a signing on June 12, Harvard-educated George Hendrata was made the new CEO of Tiket.com. 

George is currently chairman of BMJ, the third largest paper specialty company in the world, as well as Djarum's Business Development and Diversification director.

Founded in July 2011, Blibli.com was established by PT Global Digital Niaga (GDN), a subsidiary of PT Global Digital Prima (GDP) that is owned by Martin Hartono. 

GDP belongs to one of Indonesia's largest tobacco companies, Djarum Group, which also owns shares in other online companies, including Kaskus, beritatagar.id, dailysocial.net and Merah Putih Inc. technology and digital incubator. (kes)